MARKELL RUNS, BUT WHERE HE STOPS, NOBODY KNOWS

By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer

The only real reason to go to state Treasurer Jack A.
Markell's announcement was to find out what office he
was announcing for.

It was treasurer. Ho hum. It had not been out of the
question that he would try to get a jump on 2008. Twenty
years ago, former Gov. Pierre S. "Pete" du Pont chose
September 1986 to declare he would run for the
Republican nomination for president in 1988.

In these days of the seemingly perpetual campaigns,
almost anything goes, but Markell, a Democrat,
insistently is running for treasurer against Esthelda R.
"Stell" Parker Selby, a retired educator the Republicans
put up with less money than they would give to a decent
legislative race, apparently so Markell would have
someone classy and brave to wave to on his way to a
third term for the office he won in 1998.

Markell is nothing if not methodical, just like that
other guy, the one who has been sitting around patiently
as lieutenant governor since 2000, also waiting for the
governorship to come open in 2008.

The two of them, Markell and Lt. Gov. John C. Carney
Jr., appear to be methodically on course to clash over
the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in what could go
down as the most famous inter-party contest since
Delaware switched from conventions to primaries for
choosing statewide nominees in 1970.

Better than the Democratic battle, where there are
still hard feelings, between John D. Daniello and Samuel
L. Shipley for the 1970 congressional nomination, better
than the Republican rumble between Gov. Russell W.
Peterson and David P. Buckson for governor in 1972,
better because Daniello and Peterson won their primaries
but were doomed to lose the general election, and
Markell or Carney can win.

In the meantime, Markell has this nice little race to
run for treasurer, so he took the official announcement
tour on Thursday to declare his candidacy with a Sussex
County stop in Georgetown, a Kent County stop in Dover
and a New Castle County stop in Wilmington.

It seemed superfluous, considering that Markell
nearly is finished working his way -- methodically! --
through all 41 representative districts in a "Get to
Know Jack" tour he began in March and also bicycled the
state from north to south in "Jack's Tour de Delaware"
in August. Delaware candidates, however, are supposed to
take statewide announcement tours, so Markell did.

He said he delayed it because he was waiting for the
Republicans to come up with a candidate. Parker Selby
did not sign the filing papers until Aug. 31, the
next-to-the-last-day that the political parties were
allowed to fill vacancies on their tickets.

"I didn't have an opponent for a long time, and we
wanted to get people energized after we had an opponent,
and I had a feeling one was coming," Markell said.

The Republicans at least are going through the
motions of taking this campaign seriously. They sent a
mole to watch Markell's announcement speech.

As methodical as Markell is -- he married the
(Newark) high school sweetheart, went to the (Brown) Ivy
League college, had the daughter and son and made a
fortune as a telecommunications executive before getting
into politics -- he also likes creative things that are
clever and even silly.

He made up the name "Nextel" and composes poems in a
Dr. Seuss-like style he delivers in honor of people,
once writing verses about Insurance Commissioner Matthew
P. Denn, a fellow Democrat, and managing to rhyme
"insurance" with "endurance."

On the announcement tour, Markell gave a speech that
lasted almost 20 minutes -- probably long for a
candidate for treasurer, about right for one practicing
for a gubernatorial campaign.

"In Delaware, everyone knows that we're in this
together. Our sense of community defines us and
strengthens us. That's why today it's such an honor to
stand before you to formally announce my bid for
re-election and ask for your support," Markell said.

For the crowd of about 100 people at the Delaware
Theatre Company at the Wilmington Riverfront, the
biggest applause line seemed to be the one that was a
sly dig at Carney, regarded as the insider candidate.

"Eight years ago, when I first ran for public office,
many people said the same thing as they said about our
efforts to build Nextel -- that somebody who wasn't a
political insider couldn't win.

"Yet today I stand before you, still a proud Democrat
with a fierce independent streak in terms of the
approach we bring to state government, believing that
there is much more to be done, that this is still a job
worth fighting for, and I'm proud that you're here with
me," Markell said.

Markell was characteristically unswerving in his
determination to stick to today's task today and leave
tomorrow's for tomorrow. Asked in a brief interview
whether he intended to serve a four-year term without
running for another office, he smiled delightedly at the
cat-and-mouse political game and said, "I'm focused on
this race. I'll take it from there after that."

Maybe it was not coincidental that one of Markell's
well-wishers was Russ Peterson, now a Democrat, the
governor who had that famous primary 34 years ago.

Someone in the Wilmington crowd confessed to wanting
to start a chant, "'08! '08!" but did not. It is only a
matter of time, though, no doubt on Return Day, the
biennial celebration on the Thursday after the election
in Georgetown.

Then the real reason for going to Return Day on Nov.
9 will be to find out whether it is Markell's crowd or
Carney's with the loudest chant of "'08! '08! '08!"